Gas-engine starter.



H. L. THOMPSON.

GAS ENGINE STARTER I APPLICATION nuin MAY 10. 1916. 1,800,049. PatentedApr. 8,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Patented Apr 8,1919. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Mill]!!! H. L.THOMPSON. GAS ENGINE STARTER. APPLICATION FlLE D MAY I0. l9l8.

, The invention n rnn STATES PATENT 'QFFIGE.

HERBERTIYL. rnomrson, oF:ELG1n, 11LLmoIs, Ass-xenon ro .ELeIn ens oroncomrany, or ELGIN, ILLINOIS, aconronarion or ILLINOIS.

GAS-ENGINE STARTER.

Application filedMay 10, 1918. Serial No. 233,792.

Toall whom it may com-elm:

. Be .it known that I, lHERBERT L. 'THOMP- :SON, .a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Elgin, in the county of McHenry and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and -.useful Improvements 111;-Gas-Engrne Starters, of which the following 18 a specification.

This invention relates to a starter for gas engines ofthe stationarytype which are .aflixed to the-floor, or'some suitable support, M

and is particularly designed and'intended to be actuated by the .foot ofan operator, although of course it nay be actuated by hand. consists inthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts. I

In. the accompanying .drawings Figure-1 is an elevation of a starterconstructed in accordance with the-principles of the invention andapplied at one end of a .small inclosed gas engine.

Fig. Qis a sectional detail of the starter engaging pawl.

Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the starter; and v Fig. 4: is a view of thestarter showing the parts in actuated position. Y

The present invention is shown as applied to a small .gas engine ofwhich the fly wheel is inclosed by a casing 1 and with a driving shaft2, upon which is keyed a pinion 3. This pinion meshes with a gear 1which is mounted on a counter-shaft 5, supported in a boss 6 extendingfrom the lower portion of the casing .1, and at the outer end of thecounter-shaft 5 is a driving pulley 7, by means of which the engine maybe connected to the devices which it operates. Extending over the pinion3 and the gear 1 is a guard 8 which is-supported from the casing 1 bymeans .of cars 9 and fastening screws 10.

The inside of the rim of the gear 1 is formed with internal teeth 11,and freely mounted upon the counter-shaft 5, between the gear and thecasing, is a ratcheting member 12 having a recess 13, in which a pawl14: is pressed outwardly for engagement with the teeth 11 by springs 15.This member 12 is also formed with teeth 16 which are arranged atsuccessively different and incl-ca ing distances from the axis of theshaft upon which it is mounted, thereby cooperating with teeth. 17 of agear segment 18 pivoted :ona. rojection-or stud 19 which extends from te casing 1 below the counter-fshaft o.

Secured to, or formed integral with'rthe se ment 18 is an operating arm:20, at the'extremity of which is a pedal portion 21 which is adaptedtobe'pressed'by the foot, or if desired, by the hand of an operator foractuating the gear segment. Attached to one end of the casing 1, and atthe other end of the gear segment 18 is a spring 22 which tends to-drawthe arm .20 in the direction of the counter-shaft 5 in which positionthe arm 20'zengages :the spring-pressed pawl .14 and moves it inwardlyin the recess 13 against the tension. of-the springs15'and out of-'engagementwith the teeth 1110f gear 4. This entirely disengages thepawl 14 from the teeth 11 so that when. the engine is in opera- -'tionthere is no connection between the 'starting members and the ordinaryoperating and driving parts ofthe engine. It will be observed thattheouter end of the pawl 14 is beveled'sothatthe rotation of the gear. 4in the operating direction will cause the pawl sition-shown in Fig. 4:.Of course, as soon as the :arm 20 is released, the spring 22 will drawit upwardly in the position shown in Fig. l, whereupon the pawl 14 willbe disengaged from the teeth 11.

"It will'beobserved in starting this engine that the greatest effortwill be exerted at the beginning of themovement of the arm 20 for theteeth 17 of the segment 18 which are nearest to the arm 20 are at theshortest distance from the axis of the stud 19, and therefore the.greatest leverage will be exerted upon the ratcheting member 12 as theteeth 16 of this member which are normally in engagement with the teethof the segment 18 are at the greatest distance from the axis of theshaft 5, and as the arm 20 is rotated to efl'ect the starting movement,the ratio of the distances of the two sets of teeth from their centersincreases in the caseof the segment .8 and decreases in the case of theratcheting member 12 so that an accelerated speed is given to the gear4: with the same speed of movement of the arm '20. It willbe observedfurthermore that the diameters of the gear a and the pinion 3 are in theratio of about three to one so that a complete rotation of the engine 2is possible'with a much less rotation of the gear 4 and of the se mentl8.

ith this construction there is no danger of a kick-back and the gearsare fully protected so that there is no danger of their engagement withthe clothes or person of an operator, thus making it a particularlydesirable starter for Women and children to use, with the furtheradvantage that it can be operated by foot, rather than by hand.

iThere are few moving parts which are unlikely to get out of orderbecause-they are only used at the time of starting and have no furtherconnection nor interference with the operation.

1. In a gas engine starter, a gear, a rotatable ratcheting memberconnectible with the gear and having teeth which vary successively intheir distance from the axis of rotation, and an operating member havingteeth which engage the teeth of the ratcheting member for rotating it.

2. In a gas engine starter, a pair of rotatable members having teethwhich vary successively in their distances from the axes upon which theyrotate, the teeth meshing with each other, the distances of thesuccessive teeth of one member increasing from its axis as the distancesof the other teeth of the other member decrease from its axis.

3. The combination with a gas engine having a driving shaft and a pinionthereon, a counter-shaft having a gear thereon continuously meshing withthe pinion and with internal teeth at the rim thereof, and a startercomprising a ratcheting member rotatable on the counter-shaft and havinga pawl engageable with the internal teeth of the gear and an operatingmember for con trolling the engagement of the pawl and for rotating theratcheting member.

I. The combination with a gas engine having an operating shaft and apinion thereon, of a counter-shaft with a gear thereon continuouslymeshing with the pinion, a starting member engage-able with the gear,and means normally preventing the engagement of the starting member withthe gear but operative to rotate and to cause the engagement of thestarting member with the gear in a direction to start the engine.

5. In a gas engine starter, a gear rotatable continuously with theengine and having internal peripheral teeth, a ratcheting memberrotatable upon the same axis and having a pawl engageable with theinternal teeth of the gear, and means for r0- tating the ratchetingmember includmg an arm which normally engages the pawl for holding itout of engagement with the teeth.

6. In a gas engine starter arotatable member, a ratcheting member"having a spring-pressed pawl engageable with the rotating member, andmeans for rotating the ratcheting member including an arm "for engagingthe pawl and a spring for normally drawing the arm into engagement withthe pawl and pressing it out of engagement with the rotatable member.

7. The combination with a gas engine, of

'a foot starter-therefor comprising apair or convolute gears meshingwith each other and oneof'them havingan arm attached thereto forexerting greater leverage upon the other at the'beginning of thestarting movement, "and means for returning the gears to the samestarting position.

8. In a gas engine starter, a rotatable gear having internal teeth, aratcheting member having a spring-pressed pawlfor engaging the teeth,the ratcheting member having teeth which successively differ in distancefrom its axis of rotation, a pivoted gear segment meshing with the teethof the ratcheting device, and an arm connected with the segment forimparting an accelerating movement to the ratcheting member for the samecontinuous'movement of the arm.

9. In 7 a gas engine starter, a rotatable member, a ratcheting deviceconn'ectible with the member, and operating means having a convolut'egeared connection with'the device for producing an accelerating movementon the device-for the same continuous movement of the operating means.

10. In a gas engine starter, a rotatable gear, a ratcheting memberhaving a common axis and engageable with the gear to rotate it in onedirection, a pivoted segment having an operating arm, and a convolutegeared connection between the segment and the member by which anincreased starting pressure is exerted upon the member than after it isstarted for the same application of pressure to the arm.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this6th day of May, A.'I). 1918.

HERBERT L. THOMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G.

